Giants Slip in New MMQB NFL Power Rankings
The New York Giants are one step closer to the bottom rung of the National Football League after their 27-22 loss to the Washington Commanders dropped their 2024 season record to a dismal 2-7.
The Giants, who were 25th last week despite losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football after being propped by weaker teams behind them, slipped one spot to No. 26 in the latest MMQB Power Rankings.
If there is one common theme in the Giants’ struggles this season, it’s been the rare number of times the team has played complementary football. While there were two such instances–wins against Cleveland and Seattle–every week, it seems that a different unit breaks down to contribute to a Giants loss.
This past week, it was the Giants defense, which has been pretty solid all season long, that fell flat. The team’s pass rush, which entered the game as the league leaders in sacks, came up empty on the stat sheet, and the defensive backs had a nightmarish game in which they could only break up two of Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels’s pass attempts.
The Giants will look to bounce back this week as they face the Carolina Panthers, who ranked 30th on this week’s power ranking poll. Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters he would keep the identity of his starting quarterback a secret for a couple of days for competitive reasons.
Still, the Giants, favored to win for the first time in 25 games, are likely to prepare for both Bryce Young and Andy Dalton, the latter of whom is still listed as QB1 on the team’s unofficial depth chart.
Conor Orr, the weekly rankings writer who is probably tired of repeating the same argument about the cause of the Giants’ struggles, states the obvious about the Giants and what they need to do to get out of this slump.
“This team needs to find some semblance of confidence,” Orr said. “They need to get the narrative weight of the season off their shoulders."
The question is whether head coach Brian Daboll and his staff can get the team to remember what it’s like to win games because as the losses keep piling up, it’s fair to wonder if the buy-in in the locker room will start to fade as the Giants season has.
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